Lead Scientist, Fresh Pet Food Innovation

Hill's Pet Nutrition; Topeka (KS); On-site; USD 138,000 - 184,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonuses

Profit sharing

Long-term incentives

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k) matching

Vacation days

Paid holidays

Parental leave

Disability coverage

Job summary

Colgate-Palmolive Company in Topeka, KS seeks a Principal Scientist - Product Development to lead the strategy for fresh pet food innovations. You will bridge food science with process engineering to create scalable, high-quality products in a brand-new category frontier.

The role reports to R&D in Topeka and requires a strong track record in both formulation and manufacturing technology, driving end-to-end development from concept to scale-up.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Food Science, Food Engineering, or closely related field.
• 7+ years of food industry product development or process engineering experience.
• Proven commercialization of complex food products from concept to full-scale manufacturing.
• Deep mastery of formulation design and manufacturing technology.

Responsibilities

• Technical Lead & Category Innovation for novel fresh pet food forms.
• Direct design, testing, and validation of production processes for scale-up.
• Partner with Supply Chain, Engineering, Quality, and Procurement for robust product designs and trials.
• Oversee documentation, specs, and support regulatory filings.

Education

Master’s degree in Food Science or Food Engineering

Job description

Colgate-Palmolive Company in Topeka, KS seeks a Principal Scientist - Product Development to lead the strategy for fresh pet food innovations. You will bridge food science with process engineering to create scalable, high-quality products in a brand-new category frontier.

The role reports to R&D in Topeka and requires a strong track record in both formulation and manufacturing technology, driving end-to-end development from concept to scale-up.